Shanghai shopping guide
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China is transforming the world's industrial economy, and fashion there is being caught up in the frenetic process of transformation. This has led many people to maintain that Shanghai, as the flagship of the new Chinese economy, will soon rival Tokyo as the fashion capital of Asia. Comparisons aside, there can be no doubt that five years ago Shanghai had practically no luxury stores, but any leading brands have now opened there, and many others are planning to follow suit. China's new rich are demonstrating an irrepressible enthusiasm for luxury goods, and fashion is without doubt one of the main areas in which they are expressing it. Wealthy citizens, and above all the middle classes, in this hybrid of market economy and communism do not hesitate to spend a large proportion of their income on clothes. This has tempted leading brands and fashion magazines to disembark in China.
Trade in Shanghai is set up in much the same way as in Hong Kong, i.e. through malls. The benchmark street for malls in the city is Nanjing West Road, an arterial road running from east to west which is home to Plaza 66, Citic Square, City Plaza and Shanghai Centre. These immense malls contain stores by leading brands such as Prada, Dior, Hermés, Versace and Sergio Rossi, designed to meet China's growing passion for luxury.
Elsewhere in the city special mention must be made of Maison Mode, and above all Shanghai's leading multi-brand store, Three On The Bund, located in the fashionable Bund district by the river Huangpu. This store offers a select variety of top brands including Bottega Veneta, Marni e Yves Saint Laurent, and has particularly close links with Armani, which offers a wide selections of designs there in a particularly fine building. |
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